Locomotive number-plate and holder therefor.



PATENTED JULY 14, 1908.

J. K. LAPE. LOGOMOTIVE NUMBER PLATE AND HOLDER THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1907.

wit use lTOHN K. LAPE, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

LOCOMOTIVE NUMBER-PLATE AND HOLDER THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1908.

Application led February 26, 1907. Serial No. 359,390.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN K. LAPE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort orth, in the county of Tarrant and State of Texas, haveinvented new and useful lm provements in Locomotive Number-Plates andHolders Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

Tn operating locomotives, it is important that the locomotives and theirtenders be correspondingly numbered and to follow out this practice, aconsiderable loss both as to expense and use of locomotives oftenresults. For instance, in case of repairs such as mending a leaky tank,substituting new wheels or the necessary to temporarily throw thelocomotive out of commission with its tender since both arecorrespondingly numbered, and in order to make these repairs, employeesare required to work night and day and often Sundays so as to get thelocomotive ready as quickly as possible and at"the smallest possibleexpense. ln some cases a tank will spring a leak at a point far remotefrom repair shops so that it is necessary to send a substitutelocomotive to relieve the one in question at the expense of thenecessary fuel and salaries of the engineer, fireman and conductor, andthe engine so relieved, must be brought back to the sho for repair.Furthermore, it is the universa practice to paint numbers on thelocomotive and tender, and as these soon become obscured by soot anddirt, the numbers have to be repainted about four times a year. The costof painting alone, while an im ortant item, is relatively small ascompare with the income lost by the locomotive being idle while beingpainted.

The principal object of my invention is to provide removable numberplates for the locomotive and tender so that when the latter' isrendered unserviceable, the number plates of the locomotive can be takenout and others substituted to correspond with a new tender or viceversa. This change can be effected in a very short time and thelocomotives are always ready vfor service. Vhen the tankof a locomotivewhile out on the road and far from the repair shops springs a leak orotherwise becomes defective, it is merely necessary to send out anothertank in a freight train to take the place of the defective one which isimmediately attached to the locomotive. The importance of having thetender or tank numbered like on the tender, it is the trainmen forascertaining to correspond with the engine or locomotive is manifestsince trainmen are daily given orders to meet a certain train having anengine with a certain number, and as these trains often pass each otherat high speeds, the men depend upon the figures on the tenders, as theyare sufficiently large to be read While the trains are in motion, whilethose on the locomotive, which are compara tively small, cannot beconveniently read.

A further object of the invention is the pro vision of an enameled steelnumber plate for locomotives and tenders in which the numbers arecolored white on a black background, thus enabling the numbers to bemerely visible, and since the plates are enameled, they can be readilywashed when required. The holders for the number plates are of suchconstruction that the latter can be conveniently removed as occasionrequires.

With these objects in view and others, as will appear' as thedescription proceeds, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be more fullydescribed hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claimsappended hereto.

ln the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one of the embodiments ofthe invention, Figure l is a side elevation of a locomotive and thetender therefor both provided With removable numbering devices. Fig. 2is a partial rear elevation of the tender. Figs. 3 and 4 are sections online 3-3 and 4-4, Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the frontnumber of the locomotive. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a verticalsection and a rear view of the front number.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate similar partsthroughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, A designates a locomotive and B, the tendertherefor. On the steam dome 1 of the locomotive is a number plate 2removably arranged4 in a holder 3. ln practice, a number plate isarranged on each side of the dome l. On the two sides and rear of thetender B are number plates 4 arranged in holders 5. The number platesare pieces of steel coated with enamel and having suitable numbersthereon which are also of enamel. The number plates 4 are considerablylarger than those on the locomotive mainly for the reason that thetender number plates are relied upon by the number of the locomotivewhile the latter is in motion.

'The holders 3 and 5 are preferably malleable iron castings of U-shapeand are riveted to the sheet metal of the dome 1 and tender B. Eachholder has a recess 6 which forms a pocket for receiving the side andbottom edges of the number plate.

The front number plate for the locomotive preferably comprises a disk 7mounted in a ring 8 .of angle iron cross-section that forms a holdertherefor. On the rear of the plate 7 is a tripod-like frame or spider 9to the outer end of which the plate and ring are riveted.

The center of the frame 9 is provided with a.

This secondary number plate 12 is used for the purpose of enabling themileage of the tender to be readily kept. The plate 12 has the originalnumber of the tender and is never removed. When the tender is assignedto a different locomotive, the large number plates 4 are removed and newones substituted to correspond with the number of the locomotive. Thesecondary number plate 12 is taken out and reversed so that the numberwill be turned back against the tender and the mileage of the tenderfrom this point on will be recorded under the original number of thetender, and this number can be always ascertained by looking at thesecondary number plate. When the tender is supplied. with new rollingstock, of course the original secondary number plate will be taken outand a new one substituted to correspond with the large number plates.

When the tender becomes disabled., all

that is necessary is to detach the same from the locomotive and coupleup another one and change the number plate on the locomotive whilesubstituting new ones corresponding to the substituted tender or viceversa. Thus, it will. be seen that the locomotive is never out ofservice for any considerable time.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the advantages of the construction and of the method ofoperation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to whichthe invention appertains, and while I have described the principle ofoperation of the invention, together with the apparatus which I nowconsider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have itunderstood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative and that suchchanges may be made when desired, as are within the scope of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A locomotive andtender, and a plurality of removable number devices arranged on thelocomotive and tender, one of the devices comprising a plate, a ringextending around the periphery of the plate, a spider at the rear of theplate, fastenings securing the ring and spider together, and a member onthe spider for removably attaching the same in position.

2. A number device comprising a plate, a ring of angle ironcross-section, a spider at the rear of the plate, rivets for securingthe spider and ring together with a plate between them, and a screw onthe spider for removably attaching the same to an object.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN K. LAIE.

Witnesses:

`T. W. DUNN,

R. B. YOUNG.

